WASHINGTON FEDERAL COURT FINDS NO BAD FAITH FOR INSURER’S FAILURE TO RESPOND TO ROOFER’S TENDER WHEN INSURED CANNOT SHOW HARM

Quarterly Newsletter Summer 2018

The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington recently held in Diamond Constr., LLC v. Atl. Cas. Ins. Co., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136335 (W.D. Wash., Aug. 14, 2018) that an insurance company’s failure to respond to its insured’s tender of defense did not constitute bad faith because the insured could not prove it was harmed.

In 2016, Bellevue Park Homeowners Association hired Diamond Construction, LLC to replace the roof on Bellevue Park Condominiums. The new roof assembly consisted of two layers—a base sheet followed by a torch-down membrane. By the end of the second day of work, the top membrane was not completed and rain was expected overnight. To prepare for the rain, the crew went over the seams with a roller and applied heat in some places. Despite these efforts, water leaked through the roof, damaging several units. During its inspection, Diamond found small tears in the base sheet that were created by the crew when they moved equipment and supplies over the roof the night before.

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